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Wednesday, 21 October 2015

The Haunted Wreck, Close Enough and The Chancel

The Haunted Wreck :- It's funny how stories, myths and legends arise over time and become part of folklore. This old wooden wreck of a boat stticks up out of the mud on the banks of the river Adur in Shoreham, Sussex. Local legend says that this fishing boat was carried up the river during a massive storm in 1893 where it was then smashed against the rocks. The boat was supposedly the only means of income for the fisherman and his family and that they pretty much starved because the boat was wrecked. So now this wreck has ghost stories attached to it as various reports of crying and moaning have been heard and on the odd occasion shadowy figures of a family have been seen trying to push the boat back out to the river. All very creepy and scary ... and all absolute hogwash too. The reality is that this boat was a barge (not a fishing boat) that used to go up and down the river from Shoreham Harbour. There's actually an image of her online taken in 1970 where she looks pretty much intact but the years and weather have taken their toll and now just a few old timbers remain. So what of the ghostly family trying to save their fishing boat from the rocks? I have no idea how that story came about but there are no rocks in the area that a boat could smash against and the barge was more 20th Century than 19th so it's quite obvious that the shadowy moaning figures are the result of an overactive imagination.

Close Enough :- I get so used to walking around on the cliff tops on the south coast that I forget just what it is I am doing sometimes. There's the odd occasion when I find myself up there looking out to see with nothing at all between me and the huge drop but most of the time there is fencing between me and the void. As you can see by this image it is only rudimentary fencing that dates back quite a long way. Just a few old concrete posts with thin wire keeping you from straying too near the edge and the footpath takes you within a few feet of the cliff face. This image was shot at Ovingdean Gap, Brighton.

The Chancel :- This is an interior shot of St. Nicolas Church in Shoreham. The church was founded c. 900 and was dedicated c. 1080. The shot was taken from below the Norman Tower and is looking East down the 13th Century Chancel and up towards the Altar. There is an ancient feel about this building and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The church is a Grade I listed building because of its architectural and historical importance.